Ireland v Australia Match Tracker

Live score commentary:Full-Time Ireland beat Australia 15-6 in an amazing victory. If Ireland beat Russia and Italy and wi

80+1 min It’s all over! Ireland claim a famous victory!79 min Conor Murray goes over for a try, but it is ruled out for an earlier infringement.78 min Unbelievable from Tommy Bowe. The winger intercepts the ball at his own five metre line and runs the length of the pitch before being tackled at the Australian five metre line. That has to be the match for Ireland.78 min Penalty for Australia taken quickly.77 min Substitution for Ireland. Tom Court replaces Mike Ross.76 min Genia breaks forward but is stopped on the try line. Sean O’Brien with a great tackle. Scrum for Australia on the Ireland five metre line coming up.74 min Substitution for Ireland. Andrew Trimble replaces Rob Kearney.74 min Substitution for Australia. Higginbottom on for Samo.74 min Australia attack to the left, but the opportunity is wasted after Fainga’a throws the ball forward and out of play.72 min Substitution for Australia. Wycliff Palu replaces Rocky Elsom.71 min Penalty for Ireland: 15-6. O’Gara easily converts the penalty. Big advantage for Ireland with nine minutes remaining.70 min Penalty in front of the post for Ireland after Australia repeatedly collapse the scrum.69 min Kepu collapses the scrum again.67 min Sexton kicks high and long and the ball drops near the Australian line. Rob Kearney does brilliantly to win the ball. The attack ends after a knock on. Scrum for Australia five metres from their own line.65 min An Australia attack ends after Paul O’Connell is blocked.64 min Ronan Gara hits the ball high, but it goes out on the full. Poor kick from O’Gara.63 minPenalty for Ireland:12-6. O’Gara dispatches the penalty brilliantly. Never in doubt.62 min Penalty for Ireland in front of the post after Australia are penalised for repeatedly collapsing the scrum. Ronan O’Gara steps forward this time. Meanwhile, O’Driscoll comes back on.61 min Australia collapse the scrum.59 minBlood Substitution for Ireland. Andrew Trimble replaces Brian O’Driscoll. Ireland’s centres are now Jonathan Sexton and Keith Earls.58 minSubstitution for Ireland. Conor Murray replaces Eoin Reddan.58 min Brilliant play from Ireland on their own try line. The ball reaches Bowe on the right wing but breaks forward and kicks. Both teams get lucky as the kick is blocked, but the ball rebounds off an Irish player then off an Australian for an Irish lineout.56 min Australia keep possession well. Cooper makes a great line break about ten yards from the Irish line, but his pass to the narrow side is forward.53 min Brilliant tackle from Cian Healy.53 min The penalty comes off the post and almost bounces into the hands of Brian O’Driscoll five yards from the Australian line. A bounce of the ball saves Australia.52 min Australia collapse the scrum. Penalty for Ireland to the left of the goals and Sexton is going to take it.51 min Another crooked lineout from Australia.49 min Substitution for Ireland. Ronan O’Gara replaces Gordon D’Arcy. Sexton moves to centre.49 min Penalty for Ireland: 9-6. Sexton scores for Ireland. Good penalty from the out-half.48 min Horwill comes in from the side and tackles from an offside position. Penalty for Ireland.47 min Ronan O’Gara is warming up.46 min Gordon D’Arcy is receiving treatment.45 min D’Arcy kicks well down the Australian right wing and out for an Australian lineout five metres from their own line. Bowe stands back and allows Australia to take it quickly, however. A lack of concentration from the winger.42 min Kurtley Beale makes a great run down the left wing and passes to Ashley-Cooper. The winger passes again to Cooper but the pass is slightly ahead of the fly-half. Great opportunity for Australia to score the first try of the match.41 min Sexton kicks off to start the second half.

Half-Time The sides are tied at 6-6 at the interval after a competitive first half. Ireland have markedly improved from last week’s poor performance against the USA. Australia have enjoyed the majority of the territory, but Ireland have been more impressive in the scrum. Try opportunities have been scarce, while Sexton and O’Connor have been wasteful from placekicks.

40 min Half-time.39 min Brilliant scrum from Ireland. Ferris forces Genia backwards and wins a scrum for Ireland at the Australian 22.38 min Rory Best’s lineout does not go in straight. Scrum to Australia.37 min Ireland win a penalty in their own half after another strong performance in the scrum.35 min Eoin Reddan runs into an offside Australian player and knocks it on. Scrum to Australia.34 min Irish scrum in the middle of the field at the Australian 22. Ireland stack players to the left. Good scrum from Australia and Ireland are forced to throw to the right.33 min Sexton miskicks the penalty and the shot goes well to the right.32 min Australia are penalised for collapsing the scrum. Penalty for Ireland from distance, but the shot will be in front of the posts.30 min Sexton kicks it high down the middle of the field. Cooper goes up to catch it but knocks it on. Scrum to Ireland.30 min Irish scrum in their own half.27 min O’Connor’s penalty drifts to the right.26 min Another penalty for Australia after an infringement from Jamie Heaslip.24 minPenalty for Australia: 6-6. James O’Connor easily dispatches the penalty.23 min Sean O’Brien is penalised for being offside. Penalty for Australia in front of the posts.22 min Good effort from the Irish scrum. Eoin Reddan then kicks for touch near the halfway line.21 min Ireland stop an Australian attack. Scrum to Ireland deep in their own territory.18 min Drop goal for Ireland: 6-3. Ireland keep possession well through 14 phases. A penalty is awarded to Ireland, but Sexton uses the advantage to go for a drop goal and splits the posts.17 min Tommy Bowe catches the re-start and Ireland are immediately on the attack.16 minPenalty for Ireland: 3-3. Sexton scores Ireland’s first points of the match.15 min Another penalty to Ireland. This time to the right of the posts.13 min Jonathan Sexton misses to the right.12 min Penalty to Ireland after good play from Paul O’Connell.11 minPenalty for Australia: 0-3. James O’Connor opens the scoring with an easy penalty from in front of the Irish goalposts.10 min Ireland are penalised for collapsing the scrum twice. Australia will go for the posts.9 min Australian scrum five yards from the try line.8 min Australia on the Irish try line, but Ireland hold firm.7 min James O’Connor misses the penalty for Australia.5 min Australia attack near the Irish 22. Eoin Reddan forces a knock-on for what should be a scrum for Ireland. A penalty is given to Australia after a high tackle from Rob Kearney, however.5 min Australian scrum in the Irish half.3 min The ball breaks to O’Callaghan, who has a turnover opportunity. The second row decides to kick it ahead instead and cannot reach it.2 min Sexton takes the penalty quickly and passes to Bowe, who kicks the ball down the right wing.1 min Australia win the lineout, but Ireland win a scrum directly after.1 min Quade Cooper kicks off to start the game. Keith Earls catches the ball with a foot out of play to give Australia an early lineout in the Irish half.0 min The national anthems have been sung and we’re just moments away from kick-off.0 min Late team news from the Australian camp is good news for Irish fans. David Pocock and Stephen Moore will not start for the Ozzies.

Just two games in and already we reach what looks on paper to be the deciding game in Pool C as Ireland and Australia clash in Auckland on Saturday morning, kick off 9.30am.

At stake for the winner is an easier ride into the knockout stages of RWC 2011with both sides keen to avoid a quarter-final clash with South Africa.

Unconvincing against the USA, Ireland hopes received a massive blow during the week when hooker Jerry Flannery was ruled out of the rest of the Rugby World Cup with a calf injury.

The Munster front row sustained the damage in training and faces up to six weeks on the sideline.

Rory Best will start against the Aussie’s and the Ulster captain will need to ensure that his line out throwing improves from his August outings especially with Sean Cronin jumping up the ranks to bench filling duty and Damien Varley on his way out to New Zealand to join up with the squad after his call up.

Declan Kidney has made four changes from the side that struggled to impose themselves in that 22-10 win over the USA.

Sean O’Brien, Eoin Reddan, Rob Kearney and Cian Healy all come into the side with Conor Murray, Geordan Murphy, Shane Jennings and Tom Court making way.

Andrew Trimble, arguably Ireland’s most impressive performer in the August tests is once again omitted and must contend with a place on the bench. With Ireland’s backline putting in a poor opening performance against Eddie O’Sullivan’s Eagles, the continued absence of Trimble is fast becoming a major talking point for pundits.

Australia will look to target the Irish backs especially Tommy Bowe and Rob Kearney who despite their undisputed talent have both had recent spells on the sidelines with Kearney only playing 47 minutes of rugby in the build up and Bowe despite benefitting from playing Ireland’s last two games back after a three month lay-off.

Australia meanwhile are currently full of confidence, building on their Tri Nation’s winning campaign with a 32-6 win over Italy in their opening pool match. Substitute James O’Connor impressed against the European’s coming off the bench to score a try and kick three conversions.

O’Connor has now been rewarded for his performance with a starting place against the Irish; the newly signed Melbourne Rebel replacing the injured Digby Ioane on the wing.

O’Connor, who made headlines for the wrong reason during the tri Nations when he served a one-match ban for breaching team protocol, will also take over the kicking duties from Quade Cooper.

The Wallabies also welcomes back winger Drew Mitchell to the squad after the Waratahs winger recovered from a serious ankle injury sustained in April against the Queensland Reds. Mitchell, who scored five tries during the 2007 Rugby World Cup, will start on the bench

History:

Ireland has a poor World cup record against Australia and in four previous clashes at this level have yet to beat the Wallabies. However recent encounters between the sides have been close affairs with Ireland losing by 7 points last summer in Brisbane as well as losing 18-12 in Melbourne in 2008.

The defeat in 2008 was sandwiched in between some impressive performances with Ireland drawing and winning their two previous clashes on Irish soil in 2009 and 2006 respectively.

Great news today from the International Olympic Committee is that there ...

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